Gran named chief patient experience officer

In an effort to further support the organization’s mission of providing excellent patient care, patient experience at our hospitals and health centers has been and continues to be a major focus. Over the past several years, many efforts have been undertaken in this arena with positive results, but there are still opportunities for improvements. Enhancing the patient experience and creating greater access continue to be top priorities for UMHS clinical operations, across all clinics, units, settings and facilities.

As part of our commitment to further improve the patient experience, the roles and responsibilities of the value improvement officer position is expanding to include all facets of patient experience. This expanded role — under the title of chief patient experience officer — will ensure that UMHS is leveraging best practices and resources across the institution and will increase the value provided within the health system. Keith Gran will assume these additional responsibilities as chief patient experience officer, effective immediately.

This summer, the health system charged a workgroup to help determine what functions would integrate within an office of patient experience and how efforts should be focused to deliver excellent service, ensuring a superior experience to every patient, every time they interact with UMHS.

The workgroup interviewed key stakeholders who determined resource needs that would complement the initial four priority areas for patient experience. These four areas include: access, communication, courtesy and the environment of care.

To address these four areas, Gran will be working closely with key stakeholders across the health system and partnering with University of Michigan Medical Group leadership and ambulatory care operations. Some groups who have already been doing patient-experience related work will come together as the Office of Patient Experience, reporting to Gran, to create the synergies and focus that will drive enhancements in operations and culture. Initially, these areas include:

• Patient & Family Centered Care
• Service Excellence

In the future, additional functions will join the Office of Patient Experience after more thorough assessments and vetting have been completed.

Please help congratulate Gran on this new role and offer him your full support on these critically-important efforts to further enhance the patient experience at UMHS.